


Hegira

by yverdons (whoaswetha)



Series: Lovebirds [2]
Category: Cabin Pressure, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-09 17:05:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoaswetha/pseuds/yverdons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Flight always scared her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hegira

**Author's Note:**

> A little prompt fill for a friend.

“Tell me about your first flight” Molly pillowed her head on Martin’s chest and wrapped her arm around him. His own arm was circled around her, his fingers tracing stray patterns into her skin. Her quilt (from her uni days) warded off the wintery chill in the air. Their legs tangled underneath the covers. When Martin didn’t immediately respond, Molly glanced up at him. He was deep in thought.

“Do you mean the first time I flew in an aeroplane or the first time I drove one?”

 

“The first time you drove one, silly. “

 

He smiled at the word of endearment. Never fond of nicknames (his childhood blessed him with far too many, none of them desirable nor liked), it was a testament to the effect Molly had on him that he did not even bat an eyelash. He suspected that Molly was the only person he would be comfortable with calling him silly.

 

“It was...it was the most wonderful thing in the world.”

 

“Mhmmm,” she said, waiting for him to elaborate. After spending so much time listening to Martin telling tales about his adventures, she had begun to wonder about the allure of flying. What was it about being in the air that caused Martin to sacrifice so much?

 

“Well... I was what, 18? It was my first class because you see, you had to have some hands on experience for the CPL exam, and I had saved up for the class…”

 

Molly tried to imagine an eighteen year old Martin standing in a deserted airfield, waiting for the instructor to tell him what to do. She wondered whether the other students were as excited as he was, whether his hands shook in excitement. She could almost taste the fake memory as if it was one of her own. Molly faintly remembered the first time she cut up a cadaver at Edinburgh, her concealed excitement, her fear of screwing up. She imagine that Martin would have the same feelings except intensified (if his apartment was anything to go by).  

 

“It was terrifying but thrilling. There’s no other experience quite like it. All that air up around you, and you were flying. It was the closest anyone could get to being a bird, and Molly...it was wonderful. I knew then and there that I had to fly.  God, I loved it so much.” He sighed happily, squeezing Molly. She smiled at his contentment and moved up to kiss his lips briefly, trying so hard to calm her hammering heart. Martin’s description at his first flight freaked her out as much as it made her happy for Martin.

 

“What about you?” he asked suddenly, his eyes boring into hers.

 

‘Me?” Molly squeaked. “What about me?” There was something she hadn’t quite confessed to Martin….She was deathly frightened of heights. It was alright with staircases, and elevators, but the idea of going up into a thin metal tube that flew at a height of thirty five thousand feet or more set her pulse skyrocketing. She gulped nervously. As much as she did want to go on one of Martin’s flights, she just couldn’t do it. She’d probably have a panic attack on the way to the flight.

 

“What was your first flight like for you?”

 

Molly gulped.

 

“I’ve never….I’ve never flown before.”

 

“Oh.” he sounded startled “Wait, never? But if you went to college in Edinburgh, how did you come back home…?”

 

She didn’t meet his eyes.

  
“That’s so inconvenient, why didn’t you just fly?”

For all his glitz and glamour, Martin is awfully slow. Molly thought ruefully. Well, there’s nothing for it now.

 

“I’m terrified of heights.” What she had meant to be a calm and collected sentence came out in a jumbled rush and made her curse her dratted self for losing her nerves. She groaned inwardly.

 

Martin looked at her oddly.

 

“Come again?”

 

Molly sat up, not even bothering to hold on to the covers that slipped down her front,.It took Martin a good deal of self control to not stare at her front.. Even he, with his emotional incapacity, could sense that there was something important going on.

 

She took a deep breath and started again. “I’m terrified of heights,” Even then, Molly could not bring herself to look at Martin’s face. Her irrational fear and her far-too-often trodden over heart could not, would not  meet his eyes. She feared that Martin would be disgusted with her, as many men had been before. What she had not expected, was the warm crinkly smile that awaited her only if she were able to look up.

 

“Hey,” Martin sat up and gently held her chin and raised her face to be level with his. He smiles in what he hopes is a comforting manner. He admits, it’s a little disheartening to hear that his girlfriend is scared of heights but then again, he did accidentally walk into Molly’s morgue during an autopsy (Never again, he swore) which caused him to emit a particularly emasculated squeak and nearly faint, so if Molly could take that behavior in stride, then so could he.

 

“It’s okay to be scared of something. I used to be terrified of bees. And the dark, And loads of things, actually.”  Martin was no stranger when it came to facing his fears.

 

“No it’s not!” She looked at him, agitated. How couldn’t he see her frustrations? It was such a ridiculous situation that she was slightly irritated by her kindness. “I can’t even go on a bloody trip with you!”

 

He paused, a little startled. Never had his girlfriends ever expessed a genuine desire on going on a trip with him. Martin looked up at Molly and saw genuine distress on her face. She hugged the covers to herself and he felt a rush of affection wash over him.

 

“It’s okay, love. If you really want to go on a flight with me, we can figure something out.” And then, he leans in and kisses her, just the corner of her mouth and she smiles, comforted by the fact that he wasn’t upset with her. In fact, he was quite the opposite.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
